30 Years of Championing Health Workforce Diversity and Health Equity
HCC President and Co-founder, Jeff Oxendine, MBA, MPH shares insights into emerging developments in the health workforce and diversity and lessons learned from building Health Career Connection, with a focus on actionable strategies and innovations for the future.
About Jeffrey Oxendine, MBA, MPH
Jeffrey Oxendine has been an educator, health executive, and consultant, for over 30 years. His passion is inspiring and empowering students and health professionals to discover and achieve their authentic health career dreams, lead happy and fulling lives, and optimize their impact on the health of individuals and communities. As an expert, leader, and champion for health workforce and diversity, he is also committed to advancing strategies, programs, and policies to build the next generation of health leaders and professionals.
Jeff is living his passion and authentic health career as an author, speaker, consultant and coach, and as Founder and CEO of Health Career Connection (HCC). He also works with undergraduate students at UC Berkeley to pursue careers in healthcare and public health and serves at Director of Health Workforce and Diversity at the Center for Health Innovations and Organizational Research.
Jeff also works closely with health employers, health professions schools, foundations, professional associations, advocates and government agencies to determine future health workforce needs and to develop strategies to ensure a robust, well-trained and diverse health workforce. He is a health workforce consultant and Co-Director of the California Health Professions Consortium, a statewide coalition of over 150 organizations working to strengthen health workforce and diversity and the health professions pipeline.
Jeff recently served as Co-Director of the California Future Health Workforce Commission. He co-led design, planning, and support of the Commission's work to develop an actionable statewide health workforce strategy for California. He is now engaged in efforts to advance Commission recommendations.
At UC Berkeley School of Public Health, Jeff was the Co-Faculty Director of the Undergraduate Public Health Major. He also served as Associate Dean of Public Health Practice for 12 years and as a faculty member in Health Policy and Management for 16 years. Jeff founded and directed the Center for Public Health Leadership and Practice, which provides students with comprehensive career, professional, and leadership development services.
Prior to his roles at Berkeley, Jeff was a senior executive for 20 years in leading Bay Area and Boston hospitals and medical groups. He was a Lecturer in Health Management for five years at Harvard School of Public Health (now known as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).
Jeff has received numerous rewards for his work, including the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, The Distinguished Teaching and Mentorship Award and Zak Sabry Mentorship Awards from UC Berkeley School of Public Health, and the Champion of Health Professions Diversity Award from the California Wellness Foundation. He was recently named one of UC Berkeley School of Public Health's 75 Most Influential Alumni from its 75-year history.
In early 2020, Jeff published his first book, You Don't Have to Be a Doctor: Discover, Achieve, and Enjoy Your Authentic Health Career. Through this book, readers are guided through his proven nine-step process to choose their authentic health career path, secure jobs, and navigate life and industry changes.